Inside the Field: Barbasol Championship

Day 1 of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship delivered. There were plenty of upsets, as Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland all lost their opening matches. RELATED: Live scoring, tee times, bracket They'll be looking to dig themselves out a hole, while Cinderellas like University of Texas alum Dylan Frittelli and Antoine Rozner will try to keep busting brackets. This file will be updated live at the conclusion of each match to keep you apprised of the action from the TOUR's only match-play event. Return here often to learn about the latest upsets, comebacks and nail-biting finishes. MATCH RECAPS Group 15 MATT FITZPATRICK (1-1-0) def. COREY CONNERS (0-2-0), 5 and 4 They halved two of the first three holes with birdies, but the match of first-round losers turned lopsided as Fitzpatrick continued to rack up birdies and Conners again succumbed to mistakes. Fitzpatrick, who in four tries has never made it out of group play - he lost a tiebreaker to Kevin Na in 2017 - went 4-up with his fifth birdie of the day at the 10th hole. Conners, who had already given away two holes with front-nine bogeys, hit into the water at the 11th and conceded the hole. The lead was 5-up and the match was all but over. Group 10 PATRICK CANTLAY (2-0-0) def. CARLOS ORTIZ (1-1-0), 1-up There wasn't much give and take in this match of unbeatens in Group 10. Ortiz never led, and Cantlay never led more than 1-up. Both competitors played well, with Ortiz making five birdies in his loss. Cantley inched ahead with a 7-footer for birdie at 14, and the two traded birdies at the par-5 16th. Ortiz had one final attempt to tie the match, but his 15-footer for birdie from behind the hole at 18 curled off to the left. Cantlay has made 15 birdies in two days, and both of his matches (he beat Brian Harman, 1 up) went the distance. Cantlay said: "They've both (his matches) been extremely difficult. Sometimes match play is like that. Depending on the day, you have to bring it harder than other days. I've played really well. I'm happy with where my game is at, and I'm just going to keep plugging away." Group 7 PATRICK REED def. CHRISTIAAN BEZUIDENHOUT, 2 and 1 Reed got off to a fast start - three birdies in his first five holes - and never did let Bezuidenhout, the South African, back into the match once he won Nos. 8 and 9 and built a 3-up advantage through nine. Reed made four birdies in that opening nine, three of them coming from outside 13 feet. Bezuidenhout twice trimmed his deficit to 2-down, winning with a par when Reed messed up the 12th and making a nice birdie from a bunker at 16. Reed closed out the match with a par at 17. Reed said: "I got off to a better start on ballstriking. I was able to put myself in the right positions early, and because of that, I was able to be aggressive with the putting. I feel like if I can putt aggressively, it just seems to free everything up." JOAQUIN NIEMANN (0-0-2) tied BUBBA WATSON (0-0-2) Both players were hot and cold in a match that Watson never led but Niemann could never quite close out. Niemann birdied three of the first four holes to jump out to a 1-up lead. Watson, the 2018 champion here, continued to play well but also gave away holes with bogeys at Nos. 1 and 8, then hit into the water at the par-4 13th hole as Niemann built a 3-up lead. Then it was Niemann's turn to make mistakes as his three straight bogeys from Nos. 14-16 opened the door for Watson to square the match. Watson bogeyed the 17th but birdied 18 for the tie.

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For the 13th time in the last 14 years the Grande Reserve Country Club in Rio Grande will open its doors to the PGA TOUR. Tom Kite laid out 7,506 yards (Par-72) along the northeastern shore of the island in 2004 and it will provide the test this week for the field of 132 players. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks | The First Look Kite’s track features SeaDwarf Paspalum greens and Salam Paspalum on the tees, fairways and rough. Speaking of greens, they average 6,500 square feet and won’t run much more than 11 feet on the Stimpmeter because of the breeze that blows in the Caribbean. When the wind is down, the scores can plummet. Of the last three winners two have posted 20-under to take home the title while the tournament record is 21-under 267. Big names before they became big names have littered the podium over the years. Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau, Daniel Berger, Viktor Hovland, Emiliano Grillo and Ryo Ishikawa all are included in the history books. Most gamers will remember this is the site of Tony Finau’s only win on TOUR. It’s also interesting to point out that Hovland is the only winner at this event to have gone on to win again on TOUR. The opposite field event this week will have a purse of $3 million with the winner taking home $540,000 plus 300 FedExCup points. While a ticket to Augusta isn’t on the line, an invitation to the richest purse in golf, THE PLAYERS Championship, will be included. The 2018 event was cancelled because of damage from Hurricane Maria. Gamers, no ShotLink this week, so apologies for the limited stat packs. Recent Event Winners Stats Recent Winners and Notables 2020: Viktor Hovland (-20, 268; Not Entered) Rookie won by a shot in only his 17th TOUR start. … Led by two after 54 holes (-18). … Shared the 36-hole lead with three others (-10). … Won with a triple bogey on the card Sunday. … Missed tying Chesson Hadley’s (not entered) tournament record by a shot. … Fourth first-time winner in the last six. … Fourth rookie winner in the last 10. … Youngest winner at 22 years of age. … One top 25 in his previous four events entering (T23). … First time playing event. … Won on Paspalum at Mayakoba in December of 2020. Notables: Veteran Josh Teater (2nd) missed a playoff by a shot; led the field in GIR for his best TOUR finish. … Emiliano Grillo (T3) couldn’t capitalize on his first 36-hole co-lead on TOUR. … Sam Ryder (T3) posted 65 in Round 2 but still finished four back of Teater. … Ted Potter, Jr., (T6) added another windy top 10 to his resume. … Joseph Bramlett (T9) was T6 GIR and only made four bogeys. … Rob Oppenheim (T9) joined Teater as the only two players in the top 10 with all four rounds in the 60s. … Wes Roach (T9) finished T3 GIR. … Vincent Whaley (T9) closed with 65, second best round on Sunday. … Jhonattan Vegas (T9) circled 11 birdies in the final round to post the new course record of 62. … Defending champ Martin Trainer MC. … Only three rounds ABOVE par were posted by the top 26 players. … 2-under advanced to the weekend. … 36 bogey-free rounds for the week as the weather was PERFECT. 2019: Martin Trainer (-15, 273) Picked up his first win on TOUR in just his 11th start. … Won by three after trailing by two entering the final round. … Closed with 67, second best round on Sunday, and matched his lowest for the week. … Third first time winner in the last five. … Third rookie winner in the last nine. … Led the field in birdies (23). … T28 Pebble Beach was his previous best finish. Notables: Aaron Baddeley (T2) couldn’t hold the 54-hole lead but picked up his second top 10 in two starts here. … Roger Sloan (T2) racked up his best finish on TOUR. … Johnson Wagner (T2) was the only player to post all four rounds in the 60s. … Shawn Stefani (T6) closed with 65 and tied the low round of the week. … 2013 winner Scott Brown (T10) picked up his fifth top 10 paycheck in eight starts. … JJ Henry (T10) had a piece of the course record before last year and has posted plenty of low ones on this track. … First tournament back after Hurricane Maria. … Andres Romero (T25) led after the first round for the second time in five events here (2013) with a bogey-free 66. … DJ Trahan (T16) was one of three who shared the 36-hole lead on 8-under. … No previous winner has repeated as 2017 winner DA Points cashed T42. … Cut was 1-over 145. … Course rated the 15th most difficult of 48 used on TOUR in 2019 #WINDY. … Just 20 bogey-free rounds on the week. 2017: DA Points (-20, 268) 40-year old veteran cashed his third win on TOUR. … Missed tying the course record by a shot. … Opened with five consecutive birdies in Round 4. … Posted 66 on Sunday to defeat Bryson DeChambeau (not entered) by two strokes. … Missed only EIGHT GIR for the week! … Sat one back after 18 after 64. … Tied with DeChambeau thru 36 (-11). … Trailed by one after 54. … Won his fourth appearance. … Rolled in on the back of T66-MC-T39. Notables: Peter Uihlein (T5) picked up his second top 10 here. … JJ Henry (T8) tied the course record for the third time during the tournament with 63 on Sunday. … Mark Anderson (T10) posted all four rounds in the 60s. … Native son Rafael Campos (T10) backed up his T8 from 2016. … Tim Wilkinson (T17) carded 63 in Round 2. … Only five rounds over par from the top 29 players. … Played the fifth easiest course on TOUR of the 50 used in 2017 (no wind). … Needed 3-under to play the weekend. … Only four total rounds over par from the top 30 finishers. … Last time played in late March, as the event moved to February in 2019. Key stat leaders Top golfers in each statistic on the 2019-2020 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. * – Top 10 finish here since 2016 Horses for Courses

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